The Second Chance
by VVAgirl
Summary: For John Carter, the darkest time in his life was his addiction to pain killers. But what if something good came from his addiction? What if he was given a second chance...at love?
1. Chapter 1: The Meeting

**Disclaimer: I don't own any part of ER, except for my OC Cynthia. If I did, Carter wouldn't have left for 3 seasons and would've been made head of the ER. Also, no Kem or Abby relationship. Sorry Carby fans.**

_September 2002_

The sharp pieces of wood from the splintering utility poll he was leaning against were digging into his coat's shoulder. But Carter didn't seem to care, he was too busy staring at the store across the street. The sign above the door read 'Leigheas Pharmacy' in bold, black letters. He couldn't put his finger on it, but the place seemed different somehow. Less foreboding than he remembered, less...fear-filling. Cleaner even. Then again, maybe that was his own mind playing tricks on him. Maybe he felt that way since he was cleaner since the last time he'd been there.

**_CLJC_**

_The tapping rhythm of his shoes on the pavement were beating in time with his pounding heart. Which was saying something since he was a hair shy of sprinting down the sidewalk. His shift at County had ended half an hour ago, but he was too restless to go home and just sleep, even though that was all he wanted to do. He needed to move, do something more than just sit there. Plus his back was acting up again. He'd used the last of his pain meds at County when one of his more difficult patients had kicked him flat on his back. It was still sore, well, anyone's would be if it had an 8-inch butcher knife sliced into it._

_A small part of his mind was telling him that if he didn't stop, he was going to have a problem on his hands. But the rest of his body was much louder and demanding than that little thought. After the incident with the patient, he'd immediately looked in the phone book for any local pharmacies and had written up a prescription for himself. It might not have been right, but it's what he needed. He scanned the stores on either side of the street, searching for the pharmacy he'd looked up and headed for the door when he'd spotted it. _

_The door opened with a chime to announce the entrance of a customer. The place seemed dingy to Carter. Like it was a sign that he shouldn't be there. The supposedly white walls looked gray to him. The lights flickered as if they just had enough juice in them to buzz. There was only one register since it was a small space. He could see a prescription department behind the counter, but no one seemed to be working in it at the moment. One other person was in the store. The clerk, a blonde girl, was standing just to the side of the register, hidden by a display of gum. He pushed the girl out of his mind as he quickly filled out a fake date of birth and address on the slip to match his fake name and made his way to the register. He tossed the slip on to the counter, startling the clerk with the clearing of his throat. She quickly came over and brought the script to a hidden person in the back who quickly filled it and stuffed it into a bag. The girl brought the bag back and began ringing him up. He listened to the almost soothing sound of the girl scanning the item and the clicking of the keys of the keyboard as he stared at the poster behind her head. _

"_Awful lot of pain meds for one guy," a gentle voice observed, breaking into his dream world. He looked back into the girl's blue eyes._

"_Hm?" He answered eloquently. He saw that her hand was held out for the money to pay for his purchase. He glanced at the screen and rummaged in his pockets for the correct amount._

"_150 tablets of Vicodin is an awful lot for one man," the girl said again as she typed in the amount he'd given her and caught the register draw as it popped open._

_Carter just laughed darkly at her, "And what would you know about that?" He asked patronizingly._

_She just shrugged her shoulders as she handed him his change and waited for the receipt to print. "You pick up a few things when you work in a pharmacy."_

_He gave her a hard smile as she held out his receipt, "Obviously, not many," he snarked, snatching the slip out of her hands and swiped his purchase off the counter before she could even reach for a bag. He stuffed the prescription in his pocket and briskly walked towards the door. Not even turning back when he heard a 'Have a nice day' behind him._

**_CLJC_**

Carter shook his head at the memory. That was nearly two years ago. He had gotten back on his feet and had a new 2 year chip in his pocket to prove it. Right now he needed to get medication for his Gama. Their old pharmacy had closed and Carter had offered to take care of the prescriptions since she had enough to deal with. He didn't want to get them through the hospital pharmacy. Gama didn't like hospitals. And for some reason, this place had stuck out to him. Maybe it was the place, maybe it was the girl who had caught his addiction weeks before anyone of his friends and family. He wasn't sure. All he knew was he was searching through the yellow pages for the place's number again and called in her prescriptions.

He looked both ways quickly and dashed across the street, entering the building. It did seem to have been in his head. The walls were definitely white and the lights gave a warm glow to the place. He could actually see a person working in the prescription department, and the same girl was standing at the counter, sorting through papers. He could see a little indent of concentration between her eyes, but also saw her mouthing the words of the song playing over the speakers. He tried to remain inconspicuous to not bather her, which he seemed to do very badly when he heard the words 'Can I help you' float over to him. He looked up into her eyes and saw the little light of recognition in them. He walked up to her, almost sheepishly. Unlike the last time he'd been there, he'd taken notice to the fact that she was extremely pretty. "I didn't want to bother you," he explained lamely.

"It's my job to be bothered," she assured him as she tucked her wavy blonde hair behind her ear. Carter's eyes lingered a little too long, causing the girl to clear her throat. "Can I help you?" She repeated.

"Uh, yeah," he stuttered, "I'm picking up some prescriptions for Millicent Carter."

"Millicent Carter," she mumbled to herself as she turned her back, searching through the prescription bins behind her. "So, haven't seen you in here in a while," she called to him, her back still turned. He laughed nervously, she seemed to have an excellent memory.

"Yeah, been getting my life back together," he rubbed his neck, still a little embarrassed about the way he'd acted last time. She turned back to him with a giant wad of prescription bags rubber-banded together. Gama was on a strict pill diet on orders of her home care giver.

"How have the meetings been going?" She asked causally, scanning the the bar codes on the bags.

"Pretty well actually, b-" he stopped in surprise, considering her words, "How did you know about the meetings?"

She paused in her scanning to dig around in pocket before producing a chip exactly like the one he currently had in his pocket, "Been clean for 3 years. I see you all time at the meetings." She went back to scanning as he examined the chip.

"You were a drug addict?" Carter asked with disbelief.

"Pain killers, just like you," she nodded. He watched her a minute, a bemused look on his face, before he stuck out his hand brusquely.

"John Carter," he stammered out. She smiled at his hand and took it gently, shaking it.

"Cynthia Leigheas," she introduced before going back to scanning.

"Leigheas? As in..." he pointed vaguely to the sign above the door. Cynthia nodded.

"The owner's my uncle," she tapped a couple keys, making the transaction go through. They stayed in silence for a moment longer while a question nagged at Carter.

"I just have to ask, if you were a Narcotic addict, why are you working in a pharmacy?" He asked, cringing a little that he's asked about a sensitive subject. She only giggled.

"It's simple really – Cash or Charge?" She asked in the middle of her sentence. He looked at her for a second before realizing she was asking how he would like to pay.

"Oh! Uh, check actually," she smiled as he pulled out his checkbook from his coat pocket. He began filling out the check as she went to the task of bagging.

"To answer your question, it's a deal I have with my uncle. I work in the pharmacy and he pays for med school." Carter's hand messed up the H in 'Leigheas' when he heard that.

"You're studying to be a doctor?" Surprise in his voice, continuing to sign the check.

"A Psychiatrist," she corrected proudly, finishing the bagging. Carter ripped the check out of his book and was about to ask another question when they were interrupted.

"Thia!" A man's voice called from the prescription department.

Cynthia, 'Thia' apparently, rolled her eyes a little before turning slightly, "Yeah!" She yelled back.

"We need more bottles back here!"

"Kay!" She turned back to Carter who had an amused face on.

"Thia?"

"It's just something my friends and family call me," she blushed a little as she plucked the check out of his hand.

"Can I call you that?" He asked mischievously. Thia appraised him for a second before answering.

"We'll see," she winked at him before marking the check and placing it in the draw. "But you, Mr. Carter-"

"Doctor Carter," he corrected with a grin. She nodded at him with an impressed look to concede.

"Dr. Carter, you never answered my question. How is your recovery going?"

He laughed at her back track, "I'm doing pretty well. I almost relapsed a few months after rehab. But I didn't let the drug get in my system."

"What stopped you?" She asked curiously.

"My work," he answered, "I love my job and I worked too hard to get it back. I didn't want to lose it all again." He was surprised when he felt a hand squeeze his own. He looked down and found their hands intertwined.

"You did better than me," Thia admitted, "I mean a few months, you still have the urge. I almost relapsed a whole year after my rehab." It was his turn to squeeze her hand.

"What stopped you?" Carter echoed her question from moments before. She laughed a little hollowly.

"You, actually."

_**CLJC**_

_She caressed the pill bottle in her hands. Its smooth surface enticing her in to just tip it ever so slightly and let the tiny white tablets fall into her hands. He uncle was too busy checking in the order. He wouldn't find out and take away her med school money. That was another part of the deal. Work in the pharmacy and no drugs and he would pay her tuition. _

_She didn't even know how she'd gotten there. One minute she was re-stocking shelves and the next she stood behind the counter with the lid off a bottle of Valium, just staring at it. It hadn't been a conscious plan. It just seemed like instinct, he body was use to this movement. Her mind was the only hindrance. It was screaming at her to put the bottle down and walk away. 6 measly little pills and a 4 hour high were not worth throwing away her dream._

_She'd sworn two things on the day of her mother's overdose. 1. She'd pledge her life to helping those who were to trapped in their own minds to help themselves. The ones that couldn't control themselves. And 2. To never succumb to drugs. And her she was, letting drugs rule her life. A little thing like a chemical reaction inside her body was her overwhelming thought._

_But no matter how hard her mind shouted, her hand was slowly tipping the bottle and her other hand was cupping to catch the tablets._

_The clearing of a throat startled her and nearly made her throw the bottle across the room. She glanced over and saw a brown-haired man standing at the register waiting. She'd been so wrapped up in her world that she hadn't even noticed the door chime. She set the bottle down and took a deep breath before heading over to the customer. _

_She took in his appearance as she ran the script to her ankle. His hair, which seemed to have been cut in a way that could easily be made to look structurally tousled, was sticking out everywhere and he seriously needed a shave if the stubble on his cheeks and chin were indicators. He was blinking rapidly and his eye lids were closing over glassy orbs, not really focusing on anything. She noticed his fingers were unconsciously tapping out a rhythm on the counter and he was excessively licking his lips as she brought the script back and started checking him out._

_He was an addict. Judging also by the 150 tablets of Vicodin she was currently scanning. "Awful lot of pain meds for one guy," she told him. She didn't know why she'd said it, it wasn't like she could talk. But she'd seen that looking in her own eyes and it almost broke her heart to see it in another's._

_The guy seemed to not have heard her but he did place a $50 bill in her hand, "150 tablets of Vicodin is an awful lot for one man," she said again, her mind drifting to when she'd managed to change her prescription from 9 pills to 90 without anyone asking questions. She popped open the draw and made the change he was owed._

"_And what would you know about that?" He asked patronizingly after a dark laugh. She almost felt like laughing herself. If only he knew. Her hand hovered over the receipt printer as she went with the safe answer. Some people didn't take too kindly to drug addicts handling their medication._

"_You pick up a few things when you work in a pharmacy." She held up the man's receipt. He sneered at her. _

"_Obviously, not many." She felt the paper slip through her fingers as he snatched it and the crinkling of paper came as he shoved the script in his pocket._

"_Have a nice day," she called to him, but he was out the door before she even finished her sentence. She sighed out praying to anyone who might be listening that he would find help somewhere. She went back behind the gum and eyed the bottle from before._

_With out even thinking she pulled the trash can out from under the counter and swiped the bottle inside. She replaced the bag with a new one and threw the old one out back. If her career wasn't incentive enough, that man right there was another complete reason she should and would never touch another pill bottle. _

_Now, she had some magazines to 'sort' through._

**_CLJC_**

Carter stared back at her with wide eyes. While that day had been a significant one for him, he never imagined he'd made such an impact on another person. He took in the blonde girl in front of him. She just seemed to be glowing, like nothing terrible could ever harm her. But here she was telling him about a battle that she fought everyday and not only that, but a battle he also shared in.

She looked embarrassingly through her bangs at him with a small smile, "I think a thank you is the cards."

Carter smiled at her, "You're welcome." He saw that his Gama's prescriptions were packed up and paid for, but he didn't want to leave. "How'd you get hooked on pain meds in the first place?" He asked, wanting to keep the conversation going not even realizing he could be entering dangerous waters.

She sighed out with a shake of her head, "It was a stupid reason. My fiance was a pharmacist and lets just say, our relationship was less than rosy. I found out he was screwing the tech that worked with him. But I was afraid that if I left that...no one would ever want me like that again. So I stayed and hit the pills to keep myself quiet. It was the easiest thing to steal in our house. He had a regular prescription going for Vicodin and he rarely counted the pills. But then, one day, he told me he was leaving me because, and I quote, 'He knew about the pills and I had turned into a terrible person with my drug addiction.' And he ended up leaving me for the tech. They now living unhappily ever after over in Indiana with him so drunk he doesn't know where the heck he is most of the time and her shaking up with the cable guy." He saw a little devilish smile grace her lips and he had to be honest. It was hot. "But him leaving tipped me over the edge. My uncle found me in the alleyway behind the pharmacy and helped me back on my feet. He paid for my rehab and promised not to tell me dad. And thus, the deal was born." She held her arms out a little in a 'Tada' fashion. He laughed at her little. At least she was honest.

"That sounds pretty messed up," she nodded along with him. He glanced down at his watch and saw that Gama would be looking for him since it had been almost an hour since he'd left the house, "I should get going." She nodded, a little sadness in her eyes. He gathered up the bag and turned to walk out the door, but he stopped halfway.

He thought back to Abby and Susan. Abby, even though she and Luka were done (he thought), she was still hung up on him. Plus, he did NOT want to be rebound guy. And with Susan? There just wasn't that...spark that he'd felt when he was younger. It was like they were dating because it was musical chairs and they were the last two standing. It felt too forced and it wasn't fair to either of them to act like they were holding each other back by not letting the other be free. He turned around, determined to ask her when the phone rang.

"Leigheas Pharmacy, Cynthia speaking. How can I help you?" She answered smoothly. Carter looked sorrowfully at her and taking a deep breath, so much in asking her. But, before he could turn, she slid a paper towards him, winking at him, and getting back to the conversation on the phone. He picked it up off the counter and read the 5 short lines.

_8 PM_

_My place_

_256 Manchester Street Apt 3B_

_We can talk more_

_Bring wine_

He smiled down at the note and looked up at her animatedly talking to the customer on the phone. He laughed and left the pharmacy with 'Whoop!' a soon as he hit the pavement. He had wine shopping to do.

**A/N: Hello ER Fan Fiction world. This is my first fanfic of a different show. As you'll see on my profile, I have two stories all ready out and published. And for those that follow me as an author, I have not abandoned my Secrets of a Companion story. It's my baby, we're just having some fussing problems. My computer is up an running which is a good thing since last week I had nothing. But about my new story.**

**I've been watching ER since the end of June and I'm on about season 13. So, I've been going through Carter withdraw and I need something for it. So I've been fiddling around with this for a few weeks and have about 5 chapters written out of (I'm thinking) 11. Hopefully I'll be posting about once a week, but with school starting up and this being my senior year of high school, no promises. I'll try my best :-)**

**My OC Cynthia I picture to look like Ana Sophia Robb, of course older at about 26. You'll be getting more background on her in future chapters. Hope you like her, I do :-)**

**So let me know what you think. But no flames or unreasonable critiques. They just...don't help at all.**

**Read, review, and happy back to school!  
**


	2. Chapter 2: The Gun Shot

**Disclaimer: See Chapter 1**

_October 2002_

It was a normal day in the County ER, or as normal as it could the night before Halloween. The 30th of October was like a dry run through for all the mischief and stupidity that would ensue the next night. Already they'd had two patients who, since they couldn't afford a costume, had super glued themselves into a role of toilet paper for a mummy costume. Susan Lewis had been the doctor that had the pleasure of unsticking both of them. Why did it seem the crazies were always attracted to her. She was reviewing some charts that a med student had worked up, she was the attending on duty after all. She'd just sighed her name to the chart when the radio that the EMT's used beeped. Chuny answered.

"Yeah?"

"Unit 14 coming in with a GSW to the neck. Conscious, Reacts to light and painful stimuli."

"ETA?" Chuny asked into the microphone.

"Now!" the EMT yelled and the radio cut out at the same time they heard an ambulance screech to a halt in the bay. Susan immediately stood up from her seat and went to take it.

The doors burst open with Harmes and Morales pushing a gurney with a blonde woman on it. She was sitting up and holding a piece of gauze to her own wound on the left side of her neck and looking very annoyed

"Give me the bullet," Susan requested as she unlooped her stethoscope from around her neck.

"26-year-old female. GSW grazed her neck. Substantial blood loss in the field. Complained of light-headedness. Vitals normal," Harmes rattled off as they walked.

"Jerry, what's open?" Susan called over her shoulder.

"Trauma 1," he mumbled through a meatball sandwich. Susan curled her lip in disgust as she turned back to the patient.

"Honey, can you tell me your name?" She asked as she flashed her light in the girl's eyes to check for concussion.

"Cynthia Leigheas," she huffed out. "And is this really necessary?" Susan smiled.

"We just want to make sure you're okay," she assured the clearly headstrong girl. Cynthia sighed.

"If I have to go to a hospital, can I go to a different one," Susan's eyes narrowed a bit at her words. "Not that there's anything wrong with you guys," she hastened to clarify, "It's just...my boyfriend works here and I don't want him to be worried." Susan's eyes softened.

"Who's your boyfriend?" She asked curiously.

"I'm not telling you," she scoffed with wide eyes, "You'll just go get him and that's what I'm trying to avoid!" Susan smiled even more. Cynthia was quick on her feet.

"Can I at least know what he is?" Susan asked, changing tactics, "A Doctor? Nurse? Janitor?" Cynthia simply shook her head while clenching her lips together. Susan sighed and gave up as they wheeled her into the trauma room, checking her BP as they went.

"Okay," Susan thought as she felt Cynthia's abdomen for tenderness, "Let's get a head CT and two units of O neg on the rapid infuser. She's gonna need blood if she lost a lot. And page X-ray. I want to know if anything major was hit."

A groan emanated from Cynthia's direction and everyone tensed in anticipation. "Where's it hurt, Cynthia?" Susan called, worried.

"No," Cynthia whined, "It's not that. Do I really need a head CT and X-ray? Next you'll be telling me I need a C-spine and a Spinal tap." She glared at the wall behind one of the nurse's head. Even through her squinted lids, Susan could see the light of knowledge that a person had when they knew what they were talking about.

"You a med student?" Cynthia nodded.

"About to start my 5th rotation." The X-ray technician came through the door at that moment, pulling the huge machine behind them and already dawning a lead smock. The various nurses scattered out the doors as Susan turned to her patient.

"I'll be just outside," Cynthia gave her wain smile.

Susan returned it before stepping out into the Suture room. She heard the muffled sound of the tech shouting 'Shooting!' and saw the flash of bright light before charging back in to attend to her patient. She saw Cynthia wince ever so slightly as she adjusted her gauze. "Can we get 5 milligrams of morphine in here and-"

"NO!" Cynthia shrieked, clutching the gauze closer to her wound. Susan looked at her cautiously, "No pain meds." Cynthia whispered, a little calmer, "I use to be a drug addict. Pain killers." Susan nodded in understanding.

"No morphine," she lifted up the gauze and saw it was almost soaked through, "Can I have some fresh gauze in here?" Chuny nodded as she finished putting in the IV and left the room. Connie came in right after her.

"Got the O neg," she set it up in the infuser and quickly stuck Cynthia's other arm for the infusion. Just than, the doors opened.

"What've we g-" Carter stopped mid-step, only halfway through looping his stethoscope back around his neck when he looked up and into the blue eyes he'd been thinking about only minutes before. Everyone else seemed to stop along with him except Susan, who continued working. "Thia!" He shouted and sprinted to her side, pushing Connie away just as she'd finished dialing up the infuser to start. "What the hell happened?"

Susan smirked up at Carter, "This your boyfriend?" She clipped the Pulse OX detector on her finger and checked the readings. They were normal.

"Yeah," Thia smiled at Carter, embarrassed and touched at the same time.

"Thia," Carter pleaded, "What happened?" She rolled her eyes at him sounding like a 4-year-old.

"Nothing tragic. Some idiot decided he wanted some Oxycontin to start his own drug business. So he held up the pharmacy. My Uncle had just gotten back from depositing last months earnings in the bank. Whacked the son-of-a-bitch over the head with a shovel," she laughed at the memory as Carter and Susan smiled. "Last I knew, they guy was still konked out in the back of a police car as the paramedics drove off."

"Still not hearing the part where you got hurt," Carter complained.

"Oh! That."

"Yeah. That," he smiled at her. It seemed just like her to not even care if she'd gotten hurt.

"The gun discharged when my uncle hit him and since the guy was already falling it wasn't aimed at my head anymore. Thus, this lovely little gift was made." The whole trauma room smiled a little at her attempt at humor.

"Did you get an X-ray?" Carter asked abruptly.

"Films are on their way," Connie called as she put the receiver down from her call to radiology.

"You can't give her any pain meds-"

"We know, Carter. She told us," Susan assured him. Chuny returned at that moment with fresh gauze and exchanged bandages with Thia.

"What about a head CT?" Carter tried again.

"John, they took care everything," Thia tried this time to soothe him.

"But what abou-"

"Films are back," Connie called, taking them from the nurse that had run them in. Susan took them and clipped them to the light board in the room. Carter quickly switched sides of the bed to see the films better but still be able to keep a hold of Thia's hand.

"Everything looks good," Susan told them as she turned around to find Carter's eyes flicking over the skeletal images to catch anything she might have missed. After going over it for about the fourth time, he let out a breath she'd been holding in and relaxed out of his tense pose.

"Alright, let's take her up," They lifted the bars on either side of her gurney.

"Do I really need this?" Thia asked in one more attempt, but kind of sabotaged herself as she lifted the gauze off her wound. It hadn't been uncovered for more than a second before it began oozing blood profusely down her neck.

Carter gently reached over her and replaced the gauze back on her neck, "Yes," kissing her hand as he followed her out.

"Carter," Susan called as she ungloved herself. He stopped and looked back at her, "Don't you have other patients to attend too?"

She smirked as he looked like a cartoon character, looking from the elevators to the main ER area before slumping and heading towards Admit.

Susan laughed to herself as she followed him. So, Carter had a new girlfriend? Oh, she was gonna love this.

**_CLJC_**

_Thia._

_Thia!_

Her eyelids fluttered open upon hearing her name. Her vision was blurry, well it usually was when she'd just woken up. Rubbing alcohol burned her nose as she took a deep breath in. Her sight cleared enough to notice sitting up in a very uncomfortable bed inside a green room. She could just make out the backwards writing on the door, reading 'Suture Room'. _Must be a hospital _she thought as she noticed a gentle rubbing on her hand. She turned her head and winced a bit at the pain in her neck. She worked through it and focused her eyes on the man sitting next to her, Carter. She smiled sleepily up at him.

"Hey sleepy head," he greeted her. She laughed a little at him while playing with his fingers.

"What's the prognosis, Doc?"

"Well, seeing as you fell asleep on the way back from CT, I'd say you've perfectly fine. Your scan come back normal. Your films are fine. But you're gonna have to go the rest of your life with a hole in your neck." He said seriously. She hit him lightly in the arm with a smile.

"Ha. Ha. Very funny."

"I thought so."

"You're such a jerk," she started hitting him more rapidly and laughing as he tried to pitifully defend himself.

"Okay. Okay, I give," he laughed and the assault stopped, "You do need some sutures though."

"And let me guess, you volunteered," Thia playfully mocked.

"But of course," Carter smiled down at her before he frowned a little.

"What?" She reached up to touch his face as if to erase the frown there. He looked away without giving her an answer. "John." He looked over at her, always answering to his first name. Not many people called him by his first name. Most of his friends didn't even call him that. He was just...Carter at the hospital. Only his family ever called him John. "Don't shut me out," she begged. Thia knew that in order for any relationship to work, two people needed to communicate. That was the problem with her engagement. She had been miserable in it and never had the guts to tell him. That along with the infidelity was what destroyed their possible marriage. She never wanted that to happen with Carter.

"You should've come and got me," he stated, clutching at her hand, "I should've known you were here."

"But I didn't want you there," Thia tried.

"Why not!" Carter exploded, "Are you ashamed of me?"

"No! It's not that-"

"Than what is it?"

"I didn't want it to happen again!" Thia screamed, losing any ounce of cool she had left and almost ripping the bandage off her neck and the IV out of her arm.

"What happen again?" He asked a little more soothingly.

She scrunched her eyes together, trying to pull the stinging of unshed tears back inside her. She hated crying, it let people know you were soft somewhere. She preferred to laugh through pain. But some things you couldn't laugh through or escape from.

"I don't talk about my mom a lot because I feel like I didn't have one. My mom died, officially, when I was 12. But she was dead long before then." Tears began spilling out and she wiped them away with her thumb, "My mom never got over her post-partum depression after she had me. But, instead of going to a therapist and trying to solve her psychological problems, she turned to something easier." She looked at him expectantly for him to guess.

"Drugs?"

Thia laughed coldly, "What else. Heroin, Cocain, Marijuana. You name it, my mom was on it. Dad, tried his best to hide it from me. You should've seen me as a kid. I was in so many extracurriculars it wasn't funny. Anything to keep me out of he house. It actually got pretty funny after a while," she laughed humorlessly, "But he couldn't hide everything from me. There was this one Christmas, my parents never pushed the belief of Santa Claus on me so they just set up the presents the night before. Just before I went to bed on Christmas Eve I checked out the presents under the tree. I was about 7 so it seemed like there were enough presents to fill the entire room." She smiled a little at the momentarily happy memory. "The next morning when me and dad went downstairs, the presents were gone, but mom was there." Thia's eyes were dull and Carter stiffened a little at the inference.

_She sold her own kid's presents for drugs?_ He thought to himself.

"She was past out on the floor with marijuana butts around her and a syringe in her hand. That was her first OD scare." Tears were now falling freely from her eyes as she flashed back to the cold way her mother felt that day when she'd tried to shake her awake. "We rushed her to the hospital and I spent Christmas day hanging out with the nurses while dad watched over mom."

Carter thought back to all the OD's that walked through their doors. He'd never given a second thought to the people standing outside the door. Never to all the little girls and boys who watched as their moms or dads or sisters or brothers slowly slipped away. It must have been heartbreaking to them.

"After that, she seemed to get better. But than she OD'd again. She had about 9 OD's before she disappeared the day before my 12th birthday. They found her about a week later in an alley. They told us it looked like she'd tried to jump a drug pusher to get her fix when her money ran out and he'd pulled a knife on her.

"We weren't there that time to help her." She absentmindedly began cracking her fingers before Carter put his hands over hers to stop her. "But I saw what it did to my father." She said fiercely, "It broke him to see the woman he loved like that. Every time in the hospital waiting those damn 72 hours we had to stay there. I might not have forgiven my mother, but he always did. And I never wanted that to happen to us." She took his hand in hers and looked deep into his brown eyes. They might have only been dating for a month, but there was just something about their relationship. It just seemed natural to move to the next level in it.

"But Thia," Carter began. "Try seeing it from my point of view. If I get a phone call, or heard from someone, or even looked at the board and found out you died and you were here and I didn't know about it and I didn't do everything in my power to help you? That would kill me more than ever watching you recover," he looked at her beseechingly, "Please promise me you'll have someone call me if you end up in a hospital again. Even if it's to get a splinter removed." Thia laughed a little before thinking about it.

"Oh, alright. I promise to always let you know if I'm sick or hurt or feeling depressed." She sealed her promise by yanking him forward and crashing her lips on to his.

Susan looked on at them through the door as they continued to kiss and smiled. They were just so sweet together. To be sure, she'd been a little sad when Carter had ended it. But she herself had agreed that she didn't feel happy in the relationship they had together. But, seeing these two together made all her bitter feelings go away. Plus, she'd been having a lot of fun since they'd separated.

"Dr. Lewis! Mrs. Parle's crashing!" Haleh yelled from exam 3. Susan groaned in frustration before running off.

Just as she left, Abby came down the hallway with a stack of suture kits and was about to enter the room to restock when she spotted the occupants of the room. She stared blankly at the two people before calmly putting the kits down next to the door and walked away.

The couple finally separated, Thia lent back and was a little out of breath. Carter just had a dreamy look on his face.

"Welp," he said with his head still spinning, "That beats a pinky swear any day," Thia laughed and flicked his nose with her thumb. She winced a little since she'd used her left side and almost tore open her bandage again, "Okay. Let's get you fixed up." He got out a suture kit and set up the tools he needed.

He gently removed the bandage and numbed the area, "So," Thia began, trying to make conversation, "Since I'm hurt, does that mean I get to choose where we eat tonight?"

Carter laughed, "You can pick anywhere you want."

"Great! I hope you like Indian food," she cheered and giggled as he stopped in his numbing process.

"Indian food?"

**A/N: Sorry if all the medical stuff isn't correct. I am only a senior in high school so I have no clue what half the things mean. I'd be open to suggestions on making the medical criteria better. **

**Haven't seen a lot of reviews for this story. I'm a little sad cause I think this is a good story. But even if no reviews come, I'm still posting for me. I hate authors who just leave their stories there all cliff hanger-y. I sound like such a hypocrite since I literally haven't updated my other story in months. But I WILL get it done.**

**Please review!  
**


	3. Chapter 3: The Psych Student

_November 2002_

_Only 8 hours to go,_Carter thought to himself as he looked over a chart of a particularly difficult patient. He, apparently, thought he was Batman. Batman, of all things? According to his girlfriend, he'd jumped off his own garage, thinking his utility belt would activate. He'd just gotten a cut over his right eye, but treating him was difficult enough without him yelling 'Joker!' or 'The Penguin!' and singing the Batman theme song. He'd called Psych almost an hour ago and no one had come down since.

He was just thinking about calling them again when he felt a presence behind him. Hands went over his eyes as he felt the person stretch on to their tip toes to reach, "Guess who?" The person whispered in his ear, a feminine voice. He smiled. Only one person did that to him. But he wanted to have a little fun.

"Come on, Pratt. I know you like me that way. But I've got a girlfriend," he heard Thia giggles behind him.

"Not Pratt," she whispered.

"Chuny? Connie? Haleh?" he rattled off nurse names with a grin.

"You suck," she hit him on the back and spun him around to face her. Her hair was up in a very professional bun and she was wearing a blue blouse with a black pencil skirt and shiny pumps. "So, I need to be worried about those four do I?" She quirked an eyebrow at him.

He laughed at her 'Look of Destruction' as he had dubbed it. "Never in a million years," he laughed as he poked her in the stomach and kissed her chastely on the lips. He was still on duty after all. "So, what're you doing here? I thought we were meeting later tonight?"

"Well, you did call for a psych consult didn't you?" She looked at him mischievously. He glanced down to see a clipboard in her hands and a name tag pinned to her blouse.

"You're the consult?" He asked, surprised. He knew she was training to be a Psychiatrist, but he thought she was at a different hospital. Mercy or one of the others.

"Just started my Psych rotation," he smile faltered a little at his lack of enthusiasm. "Is there a problem with me working here?" Carter still looked at her as if she had 2 heads before he spoke.

"What! No, of course not." He tried to quickly cover his mistake, "I was just surprised. It's just...now we have two schedules to battle with for a date." She gave him suspicious eyes before choosing to believe him. For now.

"So, what've you got?" She crossed her arms, initiating her professional mode and focusing on the patient.

"Mr. Lewin thinks he's Batman an-"

"What?" Thia interrupted him. She turned to look at him. She knew that going in to psychiatry, she'd be dealing with Bi-polar, Anorexic, and Schizophrenic people. But people who thought they were superheros?

"Yeah," Carter said as if it was the most normal thing in the world. He looked over at her with a smile, "This is not out weirdest case. You'll see as the day goes on." He assured her and laughed as she took a deep breath to prepare herself.

They stepped into Exam 3, they'd given him his own room so not to disturb the other patients. "Mr. Lewin," Carter tried. His patient was, at the moment, running around the room; kicking beads, supply bins, and making sound effects with his mouth. "Mr. Lewin, please." He tried again. Thia just put her hand up to him, telling Carter to wait.

"Mr. Wayne," she said calmly in a dignified voice. The patient stopped short of kicking over an oxygen tank and stared at her. She smiled at his response, "My name is Dr. Cynthia Leigheas. Alfred sent me to help you."

"Alfred sent you?" The man exclaimed, hopping over to her.

"Yes he did, Mr. Wayne. In order to help you, I need for you to answer a few questions." She continued in the same dignified tone. Mr. Lewin nodded feverishly. "Now, how long have you been Batman, Mr. Wayne?" She settled into a chair and eased him on to a bed across from her seat.

Carter cautiously exited the room in order for her to do her magic. Her first patient and she was already doing well.

"Can I get some help in here!" Kovać called as he held down a struggling patient in Curtain 2 who was, at the moment, trying to bite his face off. He'd sent Connie to get some Haldol for him.

"Someone call for a consult?" He heard behind him.

"Yeah," he jerked his head, "Get in her!" He saw a flash of blonde beside him before looking up and seeing a girl, her hair up in a bun with a few pieces falling into her face, grab hold of the thrashing man.

"Who're you?"

"Cynthia Leigheas, new med student. Pysch rotation, now what the _hell_ is his problem?" She said in one breath. Never taking her eyes off the man's face.

"From what I could tell before he went rabid," Kovać strained, avoiding the man's teeth, "He thinks he's a dog." His point was emphasized when the man nipped at Thia's fingers and actually caught one between his teeth before she yanked it out.

"Got the Haldol," Connie announced, coming back in the room.

"Give," Thia demanded with her hand out for the syringe. Connie glanced at Kovać who nodded. The nurse placed the medication in her out-stretched hand. "Hold him," she ordered to Connie, who immediately took her place. Thia shifted so she was positioned over his head, holding it down.

"No, the arm!" Kovać called, seeing her heading for the neck. She ignored him and jammed the needle an inch or 2 below his ear, pushing the meds in as she went. A few seconds later, Doberman Man went limp underneath them.

"Okay," Kovać breathed heavily, cautiously letting go of the man, "I'm gonna need hard restraints and another dose of Haldol in case he gets too aggressive when wakes up." Connie nodded and was about to leave when Thia caught her.

"Thanks," she exhaled heavily. Connie smiled a little, vaguely remembering her as Carter's girlfriend, and left.

"That was a good call," Kovać observed. She just shrugged.

"Mom was a junkie. Know all the points where meds circulate the quickest." She made a note on the clipboard she'd flung down when she'd rushed in. "I'll call a doctor down here and we can probably have him in a bed by the end of the day." Kovać nodded at her assessment and called out to her as she left the room.

"You might want to update your Tetanus!" She gave him a thumbs up and hastily exited, mumbling about something on her chart.

"Does he have any allergies?" Susan yelled to the sister over the screaming of her brother. Her 25 year-old brother mind you.

"No, nothing," the 17 year-old called back between sobs. It was difficult seeing her older brother acting like this. The situation was slowly getting out of hand. The brother was thrashing against the restraints that had been put on him and the sister was breaking down. Where the hell was psych? She'd called them over an hour ago.

"What've we got?!" A new voice yelled. Susan turned and saw Thia coming in. Her hair pulled up in a messy bun and looking a little disheveled along with her outfit.

"Cynthia! Hi!" Susan called to the newcomer and saw the confused look on her face, "It's Susan! I'm the doctor that ran you trauma when you came in!"

"Oh! Susan!" Thia called, realizing who she was, "How've you been?" The brother's screaming reached a new pitch as they talked, causing both to clutch their ears.

"Been better," Susan said sarcastically, "What're you doing here?"

"Psych consult!" Susan almost had to read her lips.

"Great!" She called back before she explained the patient, "25 year-old Robert Tanglow. Brought in by his sister with abdomen pain. Minute he stepped in here, started screaming his head off and attacking anyone near him."

"What's wrong with him?" The sister tried the newcomer.

"Does he go to college?" Thia asked her suddenly. The girl shook her head.

"He graduated 3 years ago. He's been over in Afghanistan for the past year. He's on leave right now.

"What do you call him?" Thai continued with her odd questioning.

"What?"

"What do you call him? Bob? Robert? Bert? R-dog? What?"

"Rob. We call him Rob." The sister sobbed.

"Rob, listen to me! I want to help you! My name's Cynthia!" She purposely left off the doctor part, "Rob, I need you to listen to me! Picture any place in your mind! Any place but here where you feel safe! I need you to picture it for me! Please!"

It took a minute, but slowly his thrashing calmed down and his screaming turned to moaning before stopping all together. "Can you tell me where you are?" Cynthia asked, putting a finger to her lips for everyone else.

"I-I'm in a crawl space I found in my b-bedroom closet when I was l-little. I use to hide there a-all the time," his voice was scratchy from, his screaming.

"And what're you doing there?" Thia asked, whispering soothingly in his ear.

"I'm r-reading my c-comic books. Spiderman and T-The Hulk," a smile graced his lips slightly the more he imagined it. Thia noticed Chuny creeping back with a dose of Haldol.

"Rob," Thia called cautiously, "We're gonna give you something that'll make you sleep. Hopefully, by the time it wears off, you'll be on your way home." Rob nodded, his face still relaxed . She tried to leave to give the ER doc's room, but Rob grabbed on to her arm causing everyone to tense up and Chuny to freeze in the process of putting the Haldol in his elbow crease.

"You'll be here when I wake up, right?" He asked desperately. His eyes were still scrunched shut and his hands were almost clawing at Thia's sleeve. While everyone had looks of panic on their faces, she just smiled down at him.

"I wouldn't miss saying good-bye for the world. But I'm gonna leave you with your sister for now. You gave her quite a scare," she pulled the girl closer to her brother's side.

"Sorry, Molly," he apologized, taking her hand.

"S'okay Robbie," Molly laughed through her tears, squeezing his hand. Thia nodded to Chuny as Rob released her arm. Chuny stuck the needle in while Thia and Molly whispered comforting words to him. It took several more minutes than Doberman Man before Rob fell asleep with his sister clutching at his hand.

Thia extracted herself from the brother-sister moment and headed over to Susan, "Keep a dose of Haldol near him at all times and call me when you're done and ready to discharge him." She was about to leave when Susan caught her arm.

"That's it?" She asked with disbelief.

"Yeah, just perform the tests on him and any questions you have, I'm pretty sure the sister would know that answer to. They've been inseparable since he came home."

"But what was wrong with him?"

"Acute Nosocomephobia," Susan looked at her blankly, "A fear of hospitals," Thia clarified for her.

"How'd you come up with that?" Susan asked, still not believing someone could diagnose something that quickly.

"He'd been in college and in a war zone and is going back so it wasn't Agoraphobia, a fear of crowded places, or PDS and he imagined himself in a cramped place so it wasn't Claustrophobia, a fear of-"

"Yeah, I know what claustrophobia is," Susan looked incredulously at her.

"Well, it wasn't any of that so it had to've been the hospital. I should probably go talk to a doctor, just to be safe," she began mumbling to herself and made a note on the clipboard before heading out. "Oh!" She spun around to face the still confused doctor, "It was nice seeing you again!" She smiled at her before walking away.

"Okay, Mrs. Ternell," Pratt sighed out in frustration. That had been the 4th IV the woman had pulled out. She was running out of veins. Abby just smirked at his attitude. Not so cocky now, was he? Pratt had wanted to go and get some more interesting patients, but Carter had taken all his other patients, given them to other med students and told him to stay with the woman til Psych showed up.

"You called for a psych consult," a bright voice said behind them. Speak of the Devil.

"Yeah. About 2 hours ago," Pratt said sarcastically, without turning around. "I just don't get how we can go through 20 patients in an hour when you can't even get down here f-" he complained as he turned to face the consult when he stopped dead. His eyes fixed on the girl in front of him. Her blonde hair was half up with a few strands framing her face. Her blue eyes had a few dark circles under them and her lips were turned down in a frown, but Pratt still couldn't remember what he was about to say.

"We've been backed up since noon with consults to the ER and on top of the junk you pile on top of us, we actually have our own therapy groups and private sessions. So, Dr. Pratt, do you have a problem with that?" She glared at him defiantly. Almost daring him to answer.

"Huh?" He asked dazily. Not really paying attention to what she was saying. Abby rolled her eyes at him. She wasn't that pretty. Thia rolled her eyes a long with her.

"What d'you have?" She asked turning towards the patient who was singing softly to herself. Pratt still didn't answer so she turned to Abby.

"39 year-old woman was dropped off in the ambulance bay. Haven't been able to locate any family." She told the med student.

"So, why call Psych?" Thia questioned, not really getting why she was here.

"She has multiple personalities," Abby confirmed solemnly. She saw Thia's eyes widen a bit before nodding, "So far-" she continued before being cut off by Pratt, who'd steadily receded from his daze.

"So far, we've only see three personalities. I'm Dr. Greg Pratt, by the way," he added with a smile.

"Cynthia Leigheas. What are they?" She quickly cut back to the patient.

"We've seen Mrs. Ternell, that seems to be her main personality," Pratt continued, shifting his eyes to her every few seconds. "Then we have Wing-To, someone who has a tendency to start shouting angrily in Chinese. Dr. Chen's the only on who can calm her down from that. And her other one is Olivia Truman, a famous Broadway star who belts into song at times. And believe me it's not pretty," Pratt smiled, expecting her to laugh. But she remained stoic in front of him. He cleared his throat awkwardly, "I think that's who she is now," he nodded at the brunette woman who, if you listened closely, was humming the soundtrack to _Phantom of the Opera_.

Thia took in a deep breath and let it out slowly as she thought. The ER personnel waited, Pratt smiling like an idiot and Abby glaring slightly at her. "Okay," she finally said, "I'd get a translator down here in case Wing-To comes back. There's really not much I can do except get a doctor down to take a look at her." She made a note on her clipboard before pausing again, "Also, get a social worker down here if she was abandoned in the Ambulance Bay."

Pratt nodded, hanging on her every word while Abby glared a little at her. Obviously they should call social work. "I'll get my resident to come down and we'll probably get her in a bed soon." She smiled at them before her beeper went off. She checked it and groaned, "Sorry, I have to go. My patients acting up," Thia explained briefly before jogging off towards the elevators.

"She's good," Pratt smiled after her.

"She wasn't that good," Abby grumbled, "She didn't do much."

"Sometimes there's times when all you can do is 'not much'," Pratt defended before running off towards the elevators himself. Maybe he could catch her and ask her out for a coffee.

Abby rolled her eyes as she took Ms. Truman's blood pressure, "Stupid Psych students," she muttered darkly.

Carter walked into the lounge with a sigh of exhaustion. It had been a _long_ day. He thought about maybe crashing on the couch when he noticed someone was already sitting there. Thia was propped up on one end of it, her arm holding her head as she slept soundly. He noted she looked very different from this morning. Her once tight bun was now gone, her wavy blonde hair flowing freely down her back and over her shoulder. Her blue blouse was folded up beside her along with her pumps and bag. She wore, instead, a white tank top and flip flops paired with her skirt.

He quietly crept over to his locker so not to disturb her. He deposited his stethoscope and coat into the metal cubby, grabbing his bag in the process and shut the door as quietly as he's opened it. He crept back over to the couch, taking a seat next to Thia and gently began kissing her neck. He chuckled a little as she groaned and tried to bat his face away.

"Thia," he gently shook her shoulder, "Thia, come on. You can't sleep here all night."

"No, daddy. I don't wanna go to school today," she mumbled, still half asleep.

"Come on, baby," he kissed her neck once more and watched as her eyes fluttered open and adjust to the light before shifting over to him.

"You were right," she admitted, shifting her whole body toward him.

"About?"

"This hospital is a nut house," Carter laughed as he played with her hair. He preferred it down. "Not only did I have 6 group therapy's I had to observe today, I had 4 ER consults that my resident pawned off to me. There was yours, a Dr. Kovać with Doberman Man, Susan with acute Nosocomephobia, and a Dr. Pratt with an abandoned Multi-personality disorder and a nurse who wouldn't stop glaring at me," she huffed, letting all her frustration out, even getting annoyed at Carter's laughter.

"Doberman Man?" He asked, still laughing at her cute outburst. She was one of those people that was too adorable when she was mad to be taken seriously.

"Ugh! He thought he was a dog and tried to bite everyone's face off, but that is _so _not the point." She lent back into the couch, crossing her arms and successfully pouting. Carter kept laughing until he saw her move away from him.

"Okay, I'm sorry." He lent closer to her, puckering his lips; asking for a kiss. She glanced over, appraising him for a minute before she cracked a smile and stealthily pecked him on the lips.

"But, enough about my day," Thia declared, settling into his arms, "How was yours?"

"Oh, same old, same old," he waved off, content with just sitting there and holding her, "Had about 5 traumas. Lost 3 of them. Saw about 25 other patients."

"Sounds fun," muttered, a question nagging at her mind, "I have a question for you, though."

"Hm?"

"I heard from the Psychiatric staff that the ER is the resident gossip department. That true?" She glanced up at him.

"Um, well. I don't..." Carter sputtered, a little shocked at the ER's reputation.

"So it _is _true," Thia gathered from his stuttering, "Has there been any gossip about me?"

"Why would there be gossip about you," his voiced squeaked a little higher as he avoided the question.

"New med student that's been to the ER for multiple consults and came in contact with many doctors and nurses and you're telling no one noticed?" She continued to glance up at him, her eyebrows raised.

"I'm not saying that!"

"Then tell me the gossip."

"Okay!" He gave in, a little annoyed that he was that easy to break, "They all think you're an amazing doctor..."

"But?" She prompted.

"But...They all think you could be a little friendlier," he gave her a squeeze to show support.

"Is that it?" She asked calmly, surprising Carter a little.

"Pretty much. You blew in; worked your magic, and blew out." He spoke cautiously, testing the waters of her mood.

She remained silent for a few minutes, playing with his fingers nervously. "Sorry," she whispered finally.

"What're you apologizing for?" He asked, confused at her mood swings.

"I always do this. Get caught up in the job and don't take time to get to know the people I work with," her voice sounded tired.

"But you don't work with the quacks down here," he tried to make her laugh, but was unsuccessful.

"But I interact with them," she protested.

"Thia," Carter cut across her, "You'll see them again. It's not like today is gonna make or break your entire medical career. So calm down and you'll do better tomorrow." He kissed the top of her head to end his comfort. She was still breathing heavily from her freak out.

Then she began to giggle. Carter relaxed a little as he felt her vibrate against him, "I always do that too," Thia observed about herself, "I'm just so damn insecure when it comes to my job."

"Never would've pegged you as self-conscious," Carter laughed.

"What's that supposed too mean?" Thia exclaimed loudly. He glanced down and saw a sad, hurt look on her face.

"Uh, nothing. Nothing at al-" He tried to back track but stopped when a smile broke across her face.

"You're too easy," she reached up and poked his cheek.

"Oh yeah? Oh_ yeah?_" He began tickling her fiercely as she twisted and squirmed to get out of his reach.

"So not fair!" She protested between laughs, "Okay! I give! I give!" Carter laughed in her ear as she slumped against him, exhausted. "You ready to go?"

"Can I come to your place?" he asked squeezing her closely to his chest.

"Hmm?...Yes," she quickly stood, gathering her things and stuffing them in her bag. Carter followed suit and grabbed her hand as they left the lounge.

"Night everyone," he called over his shoulder. There was a collective groan that was the standard ER farewell when a doctor was leaving.

"Night Carter," came unexpectedly from behind them. Thia turned and saw the nurse that had glared daggers at her during her last ER consult. She was watching them leave with a solemn, partly angry look on her face. Carter just raised his hand and waved without turning around.

Thia kept her eyes on Abby til the doors slid shut and blocked her view.


	4. Chapter 4: The Families

**Disclaimer: See Chapter 1**

_December 2002_

"You're sure you've got your eyes closed?" Carter asked. Leading Thia up the stone walk way. He was very nervous about what he was about to show her. It wasn't as if he'd hid his money from her, he just never mentioned it. He was always careful about how he broke that he was rich. Ever since Anna, he'd always been worried how people would react to his money. Would they be mad? Jealous? Gold Diggers? Thus, he'd hid it even harder than before.

But...Thia and him had been dating for three months now and not once had she ever asked him about his family. It was like an unspoken thing between them; Carter didn't ask about her mother, Thia didn't ask about his family, and neither of them talked about their drug user days. And for that he was grateful. But he couldn't go through the entire relationship without her meeting his family. They were getting pretty serious and Thia had all ready arranged for him to meet her father on Saturday. He couldn't meet her father and still keep his family in the dark.

"I'm pretty sure me not seeing anything constitutes that my eyes're closed," Thia said, giggling while trying to feel her way around herself. Carter positioned her in front of the door with the fountain behind her.

"Okay, you can open them." He lent next to the door frame, trying to look as casual as possible. Her eyes blinked open and focused on the large, ornate door in front of her. She turned her head every which way to see the whole of the building but failed miserably.

"Where are we," a very confused Thia asked, smiling a little.

"We're meeting your dad on Saturday. I thought maybe it was time you saw where I lived," Carter said simply, observing her face as it went from confusion to shock in a matter of seconds.

"You live here?" She pointed meekly at the door and Carter bit back a laugh.

"You wanna see the rest of it?" Thia nodded her head vigorously and Carter had to laugh at that. He took out his key, quickly unlocked the door and heaved it open.

They stepped into the huge foyer and Thia didn't know where to look first. There was just so much. There were two, equally large rooms on either side of them, a giant staircase in front of them and huge vaulted ceilings above them that Thia didn't dare look up at, fearing she would see scenes on them like the Sistine Chapel.

Carter noticed their butler coming towards them. Subtly, he waved him away not only to be alone with Thia, but thinking the mention of staff might be too much information at one time. "So, this is the foyer," he started, explaining his home cautiously, "The living area and den are on either side of it. Upstairs we've got about 9 bedrooms and 7 bathrooms. Out back there's a tennis court I use more for basketball. A pool's back there as well. We also have a dining room, kitchen, study, music room..." he trailed off as he turned to see Thia reaction to all this to find that she wasn't there. He whipped his head around and found her standing in the den, staring at a picture on the wall. He went to her side and cringed when he saw the picture, _Of course it had to be the horse picture_, he thought to himself.

"That's you," Thia said dazily.

"Yeah."

"With a horse," she continued.

"Uh-huh."

"You've got a painting of you riding a horse in your house."

"I know." They stood in silence for a minute just staring at the painting.

"Could you be anymore stereotypically rich," she asked, bursting into giggles.

"I don't think so," he joined in her laughter, feeling relieved that once she got over the initial shock, Thia seemed okay with his money.

His family was a different story.

"John?" Both of them stopped laughing and turned to see Millicent Carter standing in the door way that led to her office with a maid close behind her.

"Gama," Carter stared back in shock, "I thought you were gonna be at dedication ceremonies all day?"

"I'm taking a short break between 2. It is allowed," Carter opened and closed his mouth like a fish, "And may I ask who your friend is?"

"Uh, of course," he stuttered, "This is Thia Leigheas." As soon as the words left his mouth, he bite his tongue. Gama wouldn't understand Thia's nickname.

"Thia, that's a rather unusual name," Millicent observed.

"Thia's just a nickname my friends call me," Thia jumped in, "Cynthia's my real name. And you can call me Cynthia is you wish, ma,am." She smiled sweetly at the woman. Carter was impressed to say the least. Not many people knew how to talk to his Gama right away.

"Thank you, dear. I believe I will," Millicent gave her a gracious smile, "Have you eaten yet, Cynthia?"

"Ah, no. John and I just got off a night shift down at County."

"Oh. A doctor as well. How lovely," Carter could tell from her voice that she didn't mean it. "Lydia," she turned towards the maid behind her, "Will you show Cynthia to the kitchen and have Franz make her his special roast beef?" The maid nodded and began leading Thia away who was reluctant to go and kept glancing back at Carter, "Don't worry, dear," Millicent assured her, seeing her distress, "John will be along in a minute." Thia nodded, still looking worried, and followed the maid out.

Carter watched her go with the equal worry. He had a history of Gama not liking the women he brought home. He continued to fidget with his tie and stare at his picture while his Gama stared at him. "Is she the new flavor of the month?" Millicent asked bluntly, coming to stand beside him. Staring a long with him.

"No," Carter answered abruptly. His tone was so forceful that Millicent looked over at him with raised eyebrows, "She's not a flavor." His voice was softer, realizing how childish he must have sounded.

"Good," she voiced, "Because I like her." She gave him one of her rare genuine smiles. They were special because Gama smiled all the time. For balls, ribbon cutting ceremonies, and banquets, Gama had on her signature small smile. Showing gratitude and happiness. She saved her true smile for 'Once in a Blue Moon' occasions. She patted Carter on the shoulder before looking at her watch, tutting, and walking away briskly; calling for Marcus to bring the car around.

Carter watched her go with his own smile. Maybe his luck was changing? He gave the picture one more look before heading off in the same direction Thia had been led with a new spring in his step.

**CLJC**

Thia glanced over at Carter for the umpteenth to see him straightening his tie and adjusting his coat once more. "Will you stop fidgeting," she hissed through her teeth while leading him through the hallway of her dad's knew apartment building and passed by a door with blaring music coming from it. At first she'd laughed at his nervous habits. But after almost 2 hours going from the L, to a train, to a rent-a-car (her father lived in Indiana), of him readjusting his appearance ever so slightly every few minutes was driving her insane. If it wouldn't have put them at risk for crashing, she would've punched him in the arm. It was one of the rare times neither of them had to be at the hospital. Thia had just clocked off a night shift and carter was utilizing some saved up vacation time. And Carter was to busy worrying about her father to enjoy it. "He's gonna love you, okay."

"I've never been this nervous before," he defended himself.

"It's not like my dad's a cop," she told him reasonably. Carter relaxed a little. Thia had never told him what her father did. And of course he'd been running over worse care scenarios in his head, "He just did a few stints as a Marine."

"What?!" He searched her face for any signs of a joke. Her face remained dead serious, "You're dad was in the service?!"

"Only for 4 years," she waved him off, her gaze shifting over the door numbers. "He went when I was in medical school. Just got back actually." A smile bloomed on her face as she thought about her father.

"So your dad just got back from a 4 year tour of duty and you think that the best present you can get him is a date with the man who he suspects is screwing his only daughter?!" Carter's pace was slowing as he began reluctantly following her.

"Aren't we?" She gave him a mischievous look over her shoulder before clamping her hand over his wrist to drag him along.

"That's not the point," Carter protested and was about to open his mouth to complain some more when Thia stopped them in front of a door that read '326'.

"Okay," Thia breathed, suddenly giddy and nervous, "This is it. Remember, he doesn't know anything about my drug addiction, so don't mention it. I'll tell him another day." She nervously clutched at his hand before raising her fist and knocked sporadically on the door. Carter looked at her from the corner of his eye. "Secret knock," she explained as the door opened.

In front of them stood a very solidly built man. His gray hair was shaved close to his head to the point where he almost looked balled. His craggy face did have distinct lines on it, but more from worry than age. Carter noticed his lips set in a humorless frown. But, while Carter noticed his scowl, Thia noticed his eyes that were sparkling with laughter; causing her to smile.

"How's it going, old timer?" This shot off, quickly getting back in their father-daughter routine.

"Everything still works," he said stoically. His eyes boring hols into Carter's, trying to intimidate him.

"They better. I have connections now that can tell me if you even miss a doctors appointment," Thia said, trying to get the focus off Carter, who looked like he was about to piss his pants. It worked since her father turned his head from Carter to her with the same piercing gaze.

"That so?"

She took out her cell phone, "One call and you're outed," he thumb was poised over the keys threateningly. Carter looked back and forth at the seemingly father-daughter stand off and almost sagged in relief as a smile exploded across the soldier's face.

"That's my Thia," he laughed, opening his arms in offer of a hug. Thia launched herself into his waiting arms and almost climbed on top of him the way she snuggled so close to him.

"I missed you, daddy," Carter heard Thia whisper in her father's ear. He felt like he really shouldn't be seeing the reunion and tried slipping out of sight from the door way when he was spotted.

"And who's this yuppy?" Thia's father released her, keeping an arm snaked around her waist as his expression turned steely once more. Thia only rolled her eyes at him.

"You know exactly who this is. I told you I was bringing my boyfriend with me. If you don't remember, that means it's alzheimer's and a trip to Dr. Abrams." She said it sweet enough, but Carter could tell there was a threat in there.

"All right, all right," he grumbled, drawing a hand over his head, "So what's his name?"

"Uh, Carter. Dr. John Carter, sir," Carter stuttered into life, holding his hand out awkwardly. The soldier eyed it before slowly taking the hand in his own.

"Leigheas. _Major _Zachary Leigheas. Call me Zack." He gave Carter a smile, but not on that reassured. It was more like a pod people smile right before they kill you.

"Good to meet you," Carter said with a cautious smile, afraid of squeezing his hand in case 'Zack' thought about breaking his.

"Yes, yes the testosterone is almost palpable. Now, come in John," Thia whined, breaking their handshake and snatching Carter's wrist to pull him inside. Carter had the ominous feeling one only felt when a cell door slammed on you when Zack shut his front door.

To make matters worse, Thia plopped them down on the love seat that served as a couch in the tiny place. Zach stoically taking the recliner across from them. He eyed how Thia was cuddling close to Carter's shoulder and the practically traumatized face on her new beau. He smiled inwardly as he maintained his stoney posture.

"How long have you 2 been going out?" Zack asked calmly, almost glaring at their intertwined hands, laughing internally when he saw Carter try to shake her off his hand. This was gonna be a fun visit.

"We've been dating for about 3 months," Thia answered, clamping her hand harder on to Carter's wrist and snuggled closer. Her dad just needed to get over himself. Not intimidate her boyfriend.

"That's like a record, isn't it?" Zack laughed, "What was the longest you dated someone as a kid? 3 weeks?" Thia cringed a little.

"Only 'cause _you _chased them away," she muttered into Carter's shoulder so only he could hear her. And it didn't comfort him.

"So, _Dr. _Carter. You a doctor like Thia?"Zack's eyes narrowed at the whisper.

"Dad," Thia complained, "I've told you. I'm not a doctor yet." She smiled over at her father, not able to stay mad at him for long.

"But I'm still proud of you," he smiled back, able to block out the man she was nestled against for a second, "How is med school treating my little flower?"

"Flower?" Carter asked quizzically, looking at Thia for an explanation.

"Oh, when I was younger we lived in Connecticut and there were these, uh, Forsythia's everywhere in spring. And I obsessed with them since they sounded like they had my name in them. So, daddy started calling me his 'little flower'." She smiled at the memory, lost in the past for a second.

"Yeah, it's _my _nick for her." Zack emphasized the possessive strongly, giving Carter a pointed look. Telling him it was not an invitation to call her that.

"But, med school's going good," Thia answered having not noticed the silent interaction, "I'm actually doing my Pysch rotation at the County Hospital in Chicago."

"County? Thought Ed said that was the lowest of the low on the hospital chain?" Zack questioned, a little perturbed when both Thia and Carter stiffened at his words.

"County's a perfectly great hospital," Thia defended, "John and I work very hard to ensure every patient has the best possible care."

"He works there, too." Zack pointed, a glare following his finger.

"Yeah, in the ER," Thia didn't like that Carter had remained silent at her side for the majority of the visit. That's how her father started the 'chase away' process.

"Isn't that your next rotation?"

"Is it? Must've forgotten." Carter snorted a little at her sarcasm before shutting up once more under Zack's gaze.

"How long have you worked at County, John?" He said Carter's name in a more mocking manner.

"I, uh, started as a student at, um, County when I was a student in surgery. Then I, ah, transferred over to the ER and been there ever since. It's been about, um, 8 years now. Except about 3 months."

"What'cha do for 3 months?" Zack questioned. Thia's eyes widened a bit. She'd told Carter to never mention her day addiction. She'd completely forgotten about his.

"I was in drug rehab," Carter continued, thinking that it was a safe subject until he felt a sharp jab in his side from Thia's elbow.

The apartment was eerily silent. Zack continued to glare at Carter with a new fire in his eyes. Thia bite her lip, looking back and forth between the two men. And Carter was using his medical knowledge to see if he could survive jumping out of a 3 story window to got away from Zack. The odds weren't good.

. . .

"Got out," Zack finally said after a pregnant pause.

"Daddy," Thia protested.

"You heard me. Get out of my house!" Zack jumped from his seat to bare down on Carter who quickly scampered from his seat to the door, "Thia had enough of that growing up from her mother! She's not getting it from you!" He was waving his first emphatically at Carter who had his back to the door.

"Daddy, stop it!" Thia tried, coming up behind them.

"Did you even tell her? Or was this just some act to steal her stuff for drugs?" Carter's eyes were wide, not from fear but shock mostly.

"Daddy, I knew!" Thia shouted as she put herself between him and Carter. Zack turned his gaze on her.

"What would possess you to stay with him?" He asked lowely.

"John went to rehab. He's fine now," she defended wrapping a hand around one of Carter's wrists again.

"That's ignorance, Cynthia." She winced at him using her full name, which he never did, "Did you learn nothing from your mother? Once an addict, always an addict. They're diseased!" He glared at Carter over her shoulder and missed the slight fall in her face before she set it in a poker face.

"Oh for God's sake! I was one!" Thia yelled in his face, looking indeed like a tantruming kitten, and was satisfied by the way his face slackened from one of rage.

"What?" he asked dejectedly.

"I was a drug addict. All thanks to asshole Kevin. The one _you _set me up with. He was screwing his tech and got me hooked on pain killers!" Her words were biting, but she didn't care. Even with Carter's hand rubbing her wrist in comfort, "Uncle Ed knew! That was our deal. He put me through med school and not tell you if I worked and kicked the drugs. So what's that make me!? Huh, Dad!? Am I diseased, too!?"

Zack remained speechless as he stared at his daughters face. It still looked like the scared little girl with wide eyes who woke up and found her Christmas presents gone. "Thia-" He moved his hand to cup her face, but she shifted away from it with closed eyes. It dropped lifelessly back to her side.

"No. Just don't," she said through her teeth. Keeping a hold of Carter's wrist, she got their coats and left the apartment without a word, flinching slightly when the door slammed shut behind her.

The L bumped along, causing its passengers to grumble quietly at the necessary evil of the train. Carter and Thia were one of the few other passengers on their car. Sitting next to each other, neither one of them spoke, caring to not discuss the events that had taken place at Thia's dad's apartment.

**CLJC**

Thia sighed, placing her head on carter's shoulder, out of exhaustion and frustration with her father. Why did he have to be so difficult? Couldn't he understand that her addiction didn't define her, not anymore. Carter understood it. He was good with things like that. He always managed to see both sides of an argument. While she just picked one side and stuck to it, he made her stop and consider all the options. It was one of the many things she loved about him, "I love you, John."

Carter resisted the instinct to stiffen. He was almost in shock. This would be the first time they said 'it' to each other. Not that he didn't feel...'it'. But after the incident with her father, he wasn't sure she felt the same. He glanced down at her and saw her face set in a serene expression. "Love you, too" he almost whispered and kissed the top of her head as she snuggled closer.

**A/N: Hey-o! How's everyone's September going? Mine's going awesome, I love Senior year :-)! Nothing like feeling like you rule the school to boost a persons ego. But to the story...**

**I really wanted a chapter of them meeting their families. His money is really a big part of Carter and always plays a factor in his relationships which always annoyed me about Anna and Abby. It's money, he has it and he even refused it and started living like a real resident. They needed to get over themselves. And I understand that his grandmother might be a bit harsh, but I feel like if she saw a girl that really made him happy, she'd try her hardest to make it work. **

**Now, Thia's father is a HUGE part of her life. He's all she had growing up since her mom was basically gone. I see them forming a very close relationship. Like one of those where the daughter is a daughter and a son to the dad. I always found those cute. But, he's not a fan of Carter. That will not change for a while. However, don't despair. The old man might come around eventually }:-). I also see her dad to look something like Bruce Willis (cliche I know but I really can't see him as anyone else).  
**

**This story has been getting a great response. I was a little disappointed at first, but than my friend pointed out that this an old fandom so I needed to be patient. But thank you to all my reviewers and for the favorites I've received. I love you guys! **


	5. Chapter 5: The Break Up

**Disclaimer: See Chapter 1  
**

_January 2003_

Thia peaked out of the lounge's window in the door. _They _were still out there, even though his shift had ended 20 minutes ago.

Her ER rotation had started at the beginning of the new year. And going in, she'd been seriously considering going into emergency medicine rather than psychiatric. Now, she did everything in her power so she wouldn't run screaming from the floor and back up to the safe haven that was the locked doors of the Psych ward.

Dr. Kovać was hard to understand with his accent, Dr. Romano always hit on her when she called for a surgical consult, Dr. Pratt kept asking her out on dates, and Abby was a nightmare if she happened to be the nurse on the patient. The only ones that made the experience bearable were Susan and the other nurses. Haleh, Connie, Chuny, Malik, and Yosh were a riot when together. Dr. Cordey was nice enough, if a bit solemn. And Thia felt as if she did have some sort of platonic connection with Dr. Weaver, but since she was the chief of the ER, they couldn't be close friends.

Of course, the one person that actually mattered was acting like she didn't exist. At least in the hospital. At home he was the perfect boyfriend. And she knew why he was acting indifferently towards her, but that didn't mean she had to like it.

She glared as Abby tucked a few strands of hair behind her ear shyly and Carter's smile brightened. This was the real reason behind her decision. While it appeared that she was no more than a ghost, Abby seemed to be everywhere. Talking in the drug lock up, working together on a patient, bumping into each other at Admit, even walking in together. Was this the way things had been _before_ she'd started her rotation? Had they been flirting every single day? Thia didn't know if she actually wanted the answer.

After what felt like an eternity, Carter finally headed towards the lounge. Thia situated herself on the couch in order to be immediately seen by him. Even so, it took the walk from the door to his locker for him to notice her.

"Thia?!" He exclaimed. Obviously he was surprised to see her since her shift had ended 2 hours ago. Then he noticed her appearance.

Her wavy hair was straightened to a T and pulled back a little by a clip. Her eyes had white shimmering eye shadow around them and were lined in a way that made them sparkle. Her eye lashes never seemed longer. Her cheeks and lips were the same shade of light, dainty pink.

She wore her favorite black dress that was a halter with a key hole that showed off a little bit of her chest. It hugged her waist til it flared out, forming the skirt and stopping 2 inches above her knee. A black platform was softly tapping on the ground in impatience. "Did we have a date tonight?"

"No, _we_ didn't." Carter gave her a look until the door of the lounge opened.

"Okay," Pratt said cheerfully, "We better get going befo-" He stopped short upon seeing Carter also in the room.

"I'll meet you at the car," Thia told him gently, watching as Carter's eyes bulged a little. Pratt glanced between them before heading out.

"What the hell was that!?" Carter demanded when the door swung shut.

"I have a date with Greg," Thia explained calmly.

"You have a date," Carter repeated with wide eyes, "With Pratt!"

"I said it, didn't I?" Her voice was softer. More comforting. This was the part that she hated. The reason she'd put off telling him...To see the hurt in his eyes was almost heart breaking to watch. Because she still loved him more than words could describe. But this had to be done.

"But how could you?" His face was swinging between devastation and rage.

"How's Abby?" Thia asked abruptly, her face set in a cold mask.

"Abby?"

"You two seemed pretty cozy out there." Thia knew how she was sounding, accusing him of cheating. But how else was she supposed to push him away?

"That is nothing," his face was full of manic humor. Not sure whether to plead or laugh at her accusation.

"Will it always be nothing?" Thia countered. She let out a squeak of air as he pulled her close to him. His face mere inches away from hers.

"Yes," he whispered earnestly in her ear. His arms wrapped around her waist, holding her in his grip. His breath was husky, blowing a few lose strands away from her face. "Please, Thia," he begged, "Don't do this."

"I love you, John," she whispered, leaving her forehead on his chin. Her words were just as powerful and new as the first time she'd said them on the L. "Every single cell in my being loves you. And I know you love me, too. But I can also see that your love is split. Some part of you, small or big, is in love with Abby still. And until you see where a relationship with her could go, you're never gonna be happy."

"I'm happy now," he insisted, moving his head so they were resting forehead to forehead.

"Not all of you is," Thia argued, bringing her hands up from his chest to his cheeks.

"I don't want to say good-bye."

"You know the saying," Thia laughed sorrowfully, "'If you love something, set it free. And if it comes back, it was meant to be.' Kind of perfect don't you think?"

Carter held her close for a minute, leaving her question unanswered, before slackening his arms and letting her wiggle out. "Do me a favor," Carter called as she gathered her purse and coat, "Don't kiss Pratt."

Thia gave him a laugh, "Who said anything about kissing Pratt?" Carter smiled sadly after her. "And just so you know," Thia called, propping the door open against her hip, "My dad met Pratt one day when he came to pick me up. He likes him even less than you."

Carter smiled at the story, since Thia's dad pretty much hated him. He slumped as the door shut behind her, ready to wallow in self pity. Only to straighten when the lounge door was thrown open, expecting some nurse to come in looking for a cup of coffee. He certainly wasn't expecting Thia to rush in. She dumped her stuff on the couch, went straight up to him and smashed her lips on top of his. At first he watched with wide, surprised eyes before throwing himself thoroughly into the kiss. They parted, panting and gasping for breath. Thia's fingers were knotted into Carter's all ready unruly hair and Carter was in serious danger of ripping her dress right off her.

"Good-bye kiss," Thia whispered before pecking him once more on the lips and sprinting out of the room.

Carter sat there in a daze for a few more minutes before heading for the door leading to Admit. Opening it almost caused Haleh, Connie, Chuny, and Malik to tumble into the room. Those four claimed to be the avid watchers of their soap opera, hospital romance. Yosh liked to keep tabs on them, but never openly snoop.

"Got an IV to put in," Malik said before scurrying off in a direction.

"Sample delivery!"

"Chart History!"

"Triage work," Connie, Haleh, and Chuny declared, following suit and running off in different directions. Carter watched them leave before going to slump in Jerry's seat.

"Hey," he peaked through his arms to see Susan standing next to him, "How's it going in Soap Opera land?" She jerked her head to the door, indicating that she's seen the four nurses spying.

"We've been canceled," he groaned into his arms not wanting to face the world at the moment.

"What?" She gasped but stopped short upon seeing his wary eyes peaking out of the folds of his arms, "Sorry." She patted him on the arm before turning and leaving him alone. Catching a glance at Abby standing behind them 'reading' her nurse's notes with a smile on her face. Almost a smirk.

_**CLJC**_

"Cynthia?" Thia turned her head to see Dr. Weaver coming towards her, bundled up for the chilling Chicago weather. She quickly dried her tears on her sleeve before turning fully.

"Dr. Weaver," she sniffed a little, hoping her nose wasn't as red as it usually got when she was crying. "Heading in?"

"Uh, yeah." Carey scrutinized her face, taking notice of her splotchy skin, red nose, and slightly smudge make up. "Shift starts in 2 minutes. What about you?"

"Oh! Uh, no. I was off 2 hours ago. I was just here waiting for a friend to finish up," she brushed some hair behind her ear in embarrassment.

"Well, tell Carter I said hi." Carey didn't really approve of work place relationships. But since Carter and Thia kept it professional in the ER and they were in it before she became a student, she couldn't really say anything against them. She turned to leave before being caught by Thia once more.

"It's, uh, it's not Carter. But I was wondering something, Dr. Weaver." Carey turned, with a slight air of superiority. "Would it be possible if I switched my shifts to nights."

"But Carter does day shifts," Carey scrunched her eyebrows together in confusion. She knew they were careful about their feelings, but not seeing each other at all was a little drastic.

"I know," Thia whispered, "That's kind of the point." Her head was down in order to not look into the red head's eyes.

Carey tried to make eye contact with the blonde but could only catch her eyebrow without crouching down, "Cynthia, did something happen?"

"If it's okay, I'd prefer not to talk about it," Thia glanced up slightly at her before looking down again, clutching her bag.

"Of course," Carey looked at her closely once more before adding awkwardly, "Cynthia, if there's anything you want to talk about. I hope you know, you can come to me with anything." She put a hand on Thia's shoulder in comfort. She usually kept herself distant from her subordinates, but Thia's rotation was almost over, and she had a feeling that she wouldn't be coming back.

"Thank you, Dr. Weaver. I'll remember that."

"Cynthia, please. Your rotations almost up. It's Carey," she grinned as she saw Thia give a small smile at her insistence.

"Than it's Thia to you," Thia reciprocated, putting a hand over Carey's. She gave it a squeeze before heading over to the parking lot. "See you tomorrow...Carey," she paused in saying Carey's name. Feeling strangely naughty in saying it.

"You too," Carey waved over her shoulder to the girl, making a mental note to fix the schedule when she had time. She gave one more glance back to the blonde girl and caught her getting into a gray car. The driver looking suspiciously like Pratt.

**A/N: I'm so sorry that it's been this long since I updated. But hey, I'm a high school senior who has application deadlines and essays to write. So I promise that after all that business is done for, I'll be back to my semi-regular updating (that goes for my DW story as well if any of my fans from that are reading this). **

**So really wanted a break in their relationship to just show how strong it is. Sure they broke up, but when/if they get back together, they'll definitely be stronger. Even with a few bumps along the way };-). I feel a little bit evil. But hey, what authorship doesn't torture their audience.**

**Love you all! Remember, review! **


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